Refugee held on $100,000 bail on Maine attempted murder charge

Deng Mirac, right, looks on as his lawyer, Nicholas Worden, center, addresses Justice MaryGay Kennedy in Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn on Thursday afternoon during Mirac's bail hearing. At left is Assistant District Attorney Lisa Bogue.

AUBURN, Maine — A Sudanese refugee charged with attempted murder failed Thursday to persuade a judge to lower his bail.

Deng Mirac, 42, of Lewiston appeared in Androscoggin County Superior Court, seeking to lower his cash bail from $100,000 to $5,000, according to his court-appointed attorney, Nicholas Worden. Mirac also is allowed to post a $200,000 lien against real estate, but he doesn’t own any, Worden said.

Warden said Mirac has “very little in the way of resources,” given his refugee status. His sister has offered to sell her motor vehicle and might be able to post $5,000 bail with the proceeds, Worden said.

He said his client had no criminal record beyond a drunken-driving conviction from New York.

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“He recognizes that this is one of the most serious crimes that the court can deal with, and he recognizes that some considerable cash bail is going to have to be met in order to ensure his release,” Worden said.

Justice MaryGay Kennedy denied Mirac’s bid to have his bail lowered.

Other conditions of release, including no use or possession of alcohol, illicit drugs or dangerous weapons, random search and testing and no contact with the victim, remained in effect Thursday.

Police said Mirac stabbed his estranged wife, Adut Adong, 34, in the face and abdomen when she was in her driveway.

According to an affidavit, police said Mirac told Adong: “I’m done for you today,” then stabbed her several times in the April incident.

Assistant District Attorney Lisa Bogue told the judge that Mirac had been freed on bail at the time on a domestic violence charge with the same victim.

Indicted in May, he had pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted murder, a Class A felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison. He also denied a charge of aggravated assault, a Class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

Mirac also filed a motion through Worden to suppress any DNA evidence, which Lewiston police officers took from Mirac without his consent after he was arrested, Worden wrote in court documents.